Finding a Way to Improve the Jets Can Be Food for Thought

Laveranues Coles is one of the team captains who has dinner with Eric Mangini weekly.Credit
Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Oct. 18 — Seven men gather for dinner every Thursday night in a meeting room at the Jets’ practice facility. Food is delivered, and those in the group take turns choosing the entree. Shrimp and crab are particular favorites.

But no one shows up merely for the free grub. Six captains — two from the offense, two from the defense and two from special teams — are invited to share concerns with Eric Mangini, the Jets’ second-year coach.

The Jets (1-5) would seem to have a lot to complain about; a swirling quarterback controversy, a frustrating offense and a leaking defense top the list. But that is not necessarily the point of the meetings.

“You’re not there to vent,” said linebacker Jonathan Vilma, one of the six players who meet with Mangini. “You’re there to try to get something accomplished for the team.”

This is the second year the Jets have had six permanent captains, and this is the second year they have held the Thursday captains’ meetings. Mangini has encouraged the captains — Vilma, defensive end Shaun Ellis, quarterback Chad Pennington, wide receiver Laveranues Coles, place-kicker Mike Nugent and linebacker Brad Kassell — to tackle issues that are holding back the team.

Those who attend say Mangini gives back as much as he takes. And even though the Jets are flailing, they say the mood in the meetings remains constructive. If the attitude is positive and problems are fixed, they say, the Jets can win soon.

“Anytime you get in this sort of situation,” Kassell said, referring to the Jets’ three-game losing streak, “it can go really bad, really quick.”

Mangini and the captains would not talk specifically about what was discussed. On Thursday, Mangini said that one idea from a recent meeting was a way to restructure repetitions to improve the flow at practice. That may not seem like a big deal. But players spend more time practicing than playing games, and if they can practice more efficiently, they may play better.

Immediately after the Jets’ 16-9 loss to Philadelphia last Sunday, some players grumbled about plays that were called. On Monday, Mangini said those reactions followed an emotional loss, but he also reiterated that his office door was always open.

“It’s not like in college, where the professor had office hours,” Mangini said Thursday.

But he does not have enough time to talk to everyone, and players who must focus on their own assignments and techniques have less time to think about issues that affect everyone.

Players with a complaint about a position coach or a suggestion about a play or a formation can take it to a captain. The captains take the ideas to Mangini, who asks questions and offers suggestions back.

The consensus from the meetings is that the team, while certainly underperforming on Sundays, is still trying hard every day. Mangini and the players said the mood in the meetings had not changed much since the start of the season.

“We’re all doing the same thing, working in the same direction,” Mangini said.

Vince Lombardi might have found the approach a little too touchy-feely, but fostering a sense of togetherness could be a way for the Jets, who play Sunday at Cincinnati, to get through the first half of what has been a lackluster season.

“There’s never any negative talk about things,” Nugent said. “With this team, everybody’s putting in their work.”

Coles, a first-time captain, playfully offered Thursday to relinquish his captaincy if it meant the Jets would start winning. “I might be the jinx,” he said.

But he suggested that he filled two requirements for the job: he can listen, and he can talk.

“Everybody approaches the game differently,” he said. “Some people might need to complain to go out and be productive.”

Jets fans may have a lot of reasons to be frustrated, but so do the players. They seem to think that the best way, or at least the most professional way, of dealing with their frustration is to take it to their coach. That route may be tested often.

“Certain things at certain times are not appropriate,” Coles said.

For instance, what about asking Mangini during a Thursday meeting to lighten the load at practice?

“Not now,” Coles said, laughing.

Correction: October 20, 2007

A sports article yesterday about the Jets’ weekly meetings between six captains and Coach Eric Mangini misidentified the location of the team’s game tomorrow. It is at Cincinnati, not Cleveland.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: Finding a Way to Improve the Jets Can Be Food for Thought. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe